Revolution 2, FC Dallas 0

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Shalrie Joseph and Rajko Lekic scored either side of halftime and goalkeeper Matt Reis made eight saves to record his fifth shutout of the season as the New England Revolution snapped a seven-game winless run with a 2-0 win over FC Dallas on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

Joseph opened the scoring with his team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 14th minute, while Lekic provided an insurance strike – his sixth of the season – in the 84th minute to guarantee the Revs claimed all three points.

It was the Revolution’s (5-11-12, 27 pts.) first win since July 20 and first home victory since May 14, while FC Dallas (13-8-7, 46 pts.) missed out on a chance to climb back into second place in the overall league standings following Seattle Sounders FC’s loss to Real Salt Lake.

There was one change to the Revolution lineup which played to a 4-4 draw with the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night at PPL Park as Franco Coria replaced Ryan Cochrane in central defense.

For the 10th time in their last 12 games, the Revs scored the opening goal when Joseph finished off a flowing move in the 14th minute. Joseph started the sequence by forcing a turnover in midfield and sending Milton Caraglio into the right corner, where the Argentine dropped a short pass back into path of Monsef Zerka. With his first touch, Zerka whipped a cross into the box for Joseph to guide home a header inside the right post.

FC Dallas almost produced an immediate equalizer when Zach Loyd’s right-wing cross found Maicon Santos free six yards from goal in the 16th minute, but Santos directed his header straight at Reis. In the 36th minute, Jackson forced Reis into another save with an acrobatic bicycle kick in the right side of the box.

Caraglio almost doubled the Revolution’s advantage in first-half stoppage time when he picked off an errant back-pass from Jair Benitez and rounded FCD goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. However, Hartman did enough to force Caraglio wide and the 22-year-old drilled his shot into the outside of the net from a tight angle.

Hartman came up big again shortly after the halftime break, this time in a more conventional manner. Lekic pounced on a loose ball and unleashed a rocket from 25 yards out in the 51st minute, but Hartman made a stunning stop, diving to his right to palm the effort away with one hand.

FCD’s goalkeeper went the other way to deny Darrius Barnes in the 74th minute as Hartman leapt full stretch to his left to push away the defender’s 30-yard drive.

Reis matched his counterpart in the 79th minute, tipping Santos’ curling effort over the crossbar when it appeared to be headed toward the upper corner.

With FCD pushing for an equalizer, the Revs capitalized from a set piece to salt the game away in the 84th minute. Cochrane – who replaced Coria in the 72nd minute – arrived at the near post to flick Benny Feilhaber’s corner kick to the back post, where Lekic was on hand to bury a first-time shot and provide the final 2-0 score line.

The Revs will be on the road for their next two matches, beginning with their first-ever visit to JELD-WEN Field to battle the expansion Portland Timbers on Friday, Sept. 16. Kickoff for that match is set for 11 p.m. ET.

Shalrie Joseph scored his eighth goal of the season in the 14th minute, tying his best single-season goal-scoring total in his 26th game of the season … in 2009, it took Joseph 23 games to reach the eight-goal mark.

After scoring tonight, in the past three seasons combined, Shalrie Joseph has tallied 20 goals, four more than his 16-goal total in his first six seasons in the league combined.

The goal for Shalrie Joseph was his fourth goal against Dallas in his 18 career appearances … Joseph also has two career assists against the Hoops.

Rajko Lekic scored his sixth goal of the season in the 84th minute … Lekic’s six goals is good for second on the team, two behind leader Shalrie Joseph with eight.

Rajko Lekic has now scored in two consecutive games after his 84th-minute strike tonight and netting a penalty kick on Wednesday in Philadelphia … Lekic is just the second Rev this season to score in consecutive games … Shalrie Joseph scored in the first two games of the season (March 20 at LA and March 26 against D.C. United).

Ryan Cochrane picked up his first assist of the season in the 84th minute on Rajko Lekic’s goal … the helper was Cochrane’s first assist since Oct. 25, 2009 against Chivas USA while a member of the Houston Dynamo.

Milton Caraglio and Monsef Zerka both recorded their first career MLS assists tonight … Zerka and Caraglio both earned the assist on Shalrie Joseph’s 14th-minute goal to give the Revs an early 1-0 lead.

Benny Feilhaber’s assist tonight gives him four on the year, tied with Chris Tierney for the club lead … Feilhaber’s last assist before tonight came back on July 4 at Real Salt Lake.

With the win, the Revolution increases its lead in the all-time, regular-season series with FC Dallas (formerly the Dallas Burn), 23-11-3 … the Revs are 12-5-1 against Dallas at home, including a 7-1-1 mark at Gillette Stadium

The win tonight snapped the team’s seven-game MLS winless streak that dated back to July 23 and a 2-2 draw at Colorado.

The win tonight also snapped a four-game winless streak against Dallas, having gone 0-2-2 since Sept. 30, 2009.

Tonight’s victory in the match concluded the season series – a season split – between the Revs and Hoops … earlier this year, Dallas earned a 1-0 victory at Pizza Hut Park on June 4 … New England has split or won the season series every year since 2000.

New England is 15-5-2 overall against Dallas under head coach Steve Nicol dating back to 2002, and holds a 10-3-2 advantage over the Hoops since 2004.

New England is undefeated (7-0-1) in the last eight matches against FC Dallas at Gillette Stadium dating back to 2004.

The win snapped a seven-game winless streak at Gillette Stadium this year, the second longest in club history … the last home win prior to tonight came on May 14, a 1-0 win over Vancouver.

Tonight’s matchup featured keepers Matt Reis and Kevin Hartman and between the two they have played 632 games in goal.

In the regular season, Matt Reis and Kevin Hartman have started against each other 14 times … Reis now has the 6-5-3 edge over Hartman … in the 14 games Reis has 64 saves and Hartman has recorded 46.

With the shutout, Matt Reis now has 64 shutouts in his career, tied with Pat Onstad for fifth on the all-time MLS shutouts list.

Matt Reis made his 251st career appearance tonight, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time goalkeeper appearance list … of those 251 appearances, 246 have been starts split between the LA Galaxy (39) and New England (212).

Matt Reis is 9-4-1 in his New England career against Dallas, posting six shutouts.